pipe wrench

American  

noun

1. a tool having two toothed jaws, one fixed and the other free to grip pipes and other tubular objects when the tool is turned in one direction only.

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Etymology

Origin of pipe wrench

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

I am like Picasso with a putty knife, and Rembrandt with a pipe wrench.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2016

Although he’d occasionally see his father with a pipe wrench, he wondered about the stream of people going into and out of the apartment.

From Washington Times • Feb. 1, 2015

To prove his point, he showed me a $50 vise-grip pipe wrench that goes for $90 at Lowe’s.

From Washington Post • Jan. 22, 2015

“You can’t just drop your pipe wrench and say ‘O.K., it’s 5 o’clock, I’m going home,’ and they still don’t have water to their house,” he said.

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2014

I said, waving the pipe wrench in the air.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls